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A Racist New York Times Reporter? The Alt-Right Is Red-Pilling Sarah Jeong

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The issue at hand was the political correctness, or lack thereof, of Jeong’s tweets, which openly mocked white people. But what the conversation has largely failed to take into account is the fact that the situation was precipitated by an alt-right trolling campaign that has target other liberal-leaning media and entertainment figures who have come under fire recently for past social media offenses. And that in itself is more worrisome than any series of tweets.

Jeong has since publicly apologized for her past tweets, which she says were a form of “counter-trolling” the “torrents of online hate” that she received as a young, Asian woman. She alleges that her tweets, which were barbed with racial gallows humor, were intended as satire rather than harassment.

A quick review of the most incendiary tweets include “#CancelWhitePeople,” “Dumbass fucking white people marking up the internet with their opinions like dogs pissing on fire hydrants,” and “Are white people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being only fit to live underground like groveling goblins.” The tweets are harsh and colorful, posted in 2014, and are certainly comparable to plenty of internet speech on both the right and left.

Not only are Jeong’s tweets old, purposefully taken out of context, and curated with the intent of getting her fired, but her so-called racist rhetoric is simply an imitation of the white, privileged insults hurled at Jeong, her gender, and her race previously. When Jeong’s detractors equate her tweets with anti-white racism, they choose to ignore both the hypocrisy of the alt-right in painting her with a very specific picture and the false equivalency of hurting people’s feelings with the actual systemic oppression and marginalization of non-white people.

What Do 4chan and Alt-Right Trolls Have to Do With Sarah Jeong?

The furor was arguably ignited after the firing of Roseanne Barr, who regularly endorsed conspiracy theories like “QAnon” born on 4chan. Barr, was removed from her position due to a racist tweet, has since apologized, but other alt-right trolls are using the opportunity to seek revenge on liberal members of the media.

First, trolls dug up Gunn’s pedophilia-related jokes on Twitter, and Disney quickly fired the director, to his cast’s disapproval.

How Have Liberal and Conservative Media Outlets Responded?

On one hand, journalists seem to have overwhelmingly embraced Jeong, tweets and all. The post- (or perhaps, more accurately, mid-)#MeToo media community, apart from a few outliers, is generally willing to trust women when they save they’ve been unfairly harassed and trolled. Also, technology reporters are more than familiar with alt-right tactics and quickly catching on to the new slash-and-burn witch hunt phenomenon. In Jeong’s case, she reports on the same toxicity in communities that spawns groups like /pol/, so there may be a personal twinge of resentment in its attack on her.

With any luck, the internet will become acquainted enough with 4chan trolls that it can dismiss their scare tactics before it gets sucked under.

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